An Alternate Ending
by isabellthelooser
Summary: This is my alternate version of New Moon when Bella jumps off the cliff. What if Edward came to check on her that very same day? would he save her? would she believe he was really there? find out in my tale. rated T for phsical-contact.read New Moon first
1. Chapter 1: Jump of Fate

Disclaimer: i do not own the books by Stephenie Meyer, and definitely not this chapter for it is a section from the 15. chapter in New Moon and belongs sollely to the all-mighty S.M. Please don't sue me!

isabellthelooser

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Jump of Fate

_The ocean sounded very far away, somehow farther than before, when I was on the path in the trees. I grimaced when I thought of the probable temperature of the water. But I wasn't going to let that stop me._

_The wind blew stronger now, whipping the rain in eddies around me._

_I stepped out to the edge, keeping me eyes on the empty space in front of me. My toes felt ahead blindly, caressing the edge of the rock when they encountered it. I drew in a deep breath and held it…waiting._

"_Bella."_

_I smiled and exhaled._

_**Yes?**__ I didn't answer out loud, for fear that the sound of my voice would shatter the beautiful illusion. He sounded so real, so close. It was only when he was disapproving like this that I could hear the true memory of his voice--the velvet texture and the musical intonation that made up the most perfect of all voices._

"_Don't do this," he pleaded._

_**You wanted me to human**__, I reminded him. __**Well, watch me**__._

"_Please. For me."_

_**But you won't stay with me any other way.**_

"_Please." It was just whisper in the blowing rain that tossed my hair and drenched my clothes--making me as wet as if this were my second jump of the day._

_I rolled onto the balls of my feet._

"_No, Bella!" He was angry now, and the anger was so lovely._

_I smiled and raised my arms straight out, as if I were going to dive, lifting my face into the rain. But it was too ingrained from years of swimming at the public pool--feet first, first time. I leaned forward, crouching to get more spring…_

_And I flung myself off the cliff._

So how did you like it? the next chapter is from Edward's POV and is entirely my writing...sorry for the anti-originalness of this chapter, but it was important for the story.

please review, and give me your thoughts on my story.

thank you, isabellthelooser

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	2. Chapter 2: Torn

Disclaimer: i don't own the amazing books by stephrenie Meyer, and i never will try to say i do.

this chapter is my own words this time, and is from Edward's POV.

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Torn

My chest stung like it was filled with flesh-eating poison. If my heart could beat, it would be broken. But alas, I could not, and would never need any of the deep, cleansing breathes I took.

_Edward, come on man. It's time to go hunting._

I shook my head. _No._ Never again would I feed. Never again would I let my body be governed by what had stolen my love, my _life_ from me. I'd rather wither away than ever feel blood drip over my lips again; the same lips that used to caress hers…

No. I wouldn't think about that; I wouldn't think about her. I was the one who ended it, and I would stick to my initial plan. We would forget about each other--start over…or at least she would. I could and would never forget her.

_Come one, Edward! Emmett and Jasper are going to leave without you!_

Once again I ignored Alice's annoying voice in my head, and held my eyes on my book. _Let them leave._ I thought, _and see if I give a shit_--

My door slammed open, rattling on its hinges and bouncing back off the wall. I merely glanced at it before returning to my book. A moment later Alice came dancing in, her face anguished and her hands balled.

I didn't look up from my book. "Hi, Alice."

She stopped in front of me, her hands on her hips. "How many time have you read that page, Edward?"

My hands stiffened around the cover but I didn't glance up.

"No. Wait." she held up one finger, "How many times have you read that _book_?"

I shut my book with a snap, finally letting my eyes lock onto my sister's. "Enough, Alice. What do you want?"

She was silent for a minute, carefully locking away her thoughts so I couldn't just read them. It was the first time I'd seen any of my family in five months. She looked nervous; glancing everywhere but at my face.

She sighed, "You should go see her, Edward."

"Oh, no! Not you too!" I leaped from my seat on my couch and turned away from here, heading for the window across from the door.

"Just go see her. She doesn't even have to know you're there."

Anger flared in me. "You know I can't do that, Alice. I can't uproot her like that. What if she's happy?"

I felt her cool hand on my shoulder, "Then you can leave her in peace. _You_ can be at peace."

I turned to her and glared. "And what if she isn't? Then I can just go back on all my promises? And she'll just accept me back with open arms?!" Alice nodded, but I was already drawn. "You don't know what I said. What I _did_. And her face…"

And I remembered; every tiny memory of that day that I had carefully hidden away came back. Every detail of her face, every word--every lie that came out of my mouth that day came back to me.

Her face empty, void of all emotion except the pain in her eyes. How her eyes sank to the ground as I lied to her; how I used her own words against her. It was almost as if I were reliving it a second time. I see the tears building behind her eyes, feel her skin as I forced her arms to her sides and leaned forward to kiss forehead. And then her voice--soft, velvety--drawing me back to her while she stumbled blindly after me. How did I manage to ever stay away from her; to flee?

I didn't realize I had collapsed until Alice sank onto the floor beside me; her arm clutching my shoulder as if she suspected me to sink right through the floorboards as well.

"Edward," she whispered, "I can't imagine how it must hurt to lose her. I've never been without Jasper for more than a day or two…But I do know that this has to stop now. You can't keep all this locked inside you; and not feeding." she shook her, "You need to get out of here; get out of this room."

I followed her gaze around my horribly messy bedroom. Across the book and paper covered floor; the pens and pencils snapped in anger; my grand piano squished into the far corner of the room, the sheath open showing the worn keys beneath. My eyes dropped to my hands limp in my lap. I'd been writing the same line for three months; I couldn't find inspiration in my dull life without her.

"Go see her." Alice was saying, shaking my shoulder slightly for emphasis. "See if she's happy. If she is; good for her. If not…stay for a while, maybe you can pick up where you left off."

My mouth slacked slightly until it was hanging ajar, my eyes bored holes into the floor. Slowly, mechanically, I began to shake my head. "No. No. No."

Alice shook me again, hard. "Go, Edward. Go now."

I still shook my head, too distraught to even manage a coherent thought. "I--can't, Alice. I can't." I shook my head in rhythm to her shakes. "What if I can't leave. What if something happens, and she's _not_ happy? What if--what if she won't take me back?"

Alice bent her head to peek up at me. She raised her eyebrows at me, "Then something happens. Now go." She shoved a leaflet of plane tickets into my hand. "And don't you dare chicken out! I'll see."

I barely saw her point jokingly at her head, for I was already flinging open the window; too chicken to face my family, and flung myself out the window. I disappeared into the dark forest, running as fast as my legs would carry me.

_Bella._ I thought, leaping over a fallen tree. _Bella. I'm coming for you. I'll be there in two hours. _

And then I leapt into utter darkness.

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thanks for reading. please review! thank you.

isabellthelooser


	3. Chapter 3: Pressure

Disclaimer: i do not own the books by stephenie Meyer and do not own the following trxt, as it is a section from her book New Moon. Please don't sue me!

isabellthelooser

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Pressure

_I screamed as I dropped through the open air like a meteor, but it was a scream of exhilaration and not fear. The wind resisted, trying vainly to the fight the unconquerable gravity, pushing against me and twirling me in spirals like a rocket crashing to the earth._

_**Yes!**__ The word echoed through my head as I sliced through the surface of the water. It was icy, colder than I'd feared, and yet the chill only added to the high._

_I was proud of myself as I plunged deeper into the freezing black water. I hadn't had one moment of terror--just pure adrenaline. Really, the fall wasn't scary at all. Where was the challenge?_

_That was when the current caught me._

_I'd been so preoccupied by the size of the cliffs, by the obvious danger pf their high, sheer faces, that I hadn't worried at all about the dark water waiting. I never dreamed that the true menace was lurking far below me, under the heaving surf._

_It felt like the waves were fighting over me, jerking me back and forth between them as if determined to share by pulling me in halves. I knew the right way to avoid a riptide: swim parallel to the beach rather than struggling for the shore. But the knowledge did me little good when I didn't know which way the shore was._

_I couldn't even tell which way the surface was._

_The angry water was black in every direction; there was no brightness to direct me upward. Gravity was all-powerful when it competed with the air, but it had nothing on the waves--I couldn't feel a downward pull, a sinking in one direction. Just the battering of the current that flung me round and round like a rag doll._

_I fought to keep my breath in, to keep my lips locked around my last store of oxygen._

_It didn't help surprise me that my delusion of Edward was there. He owed me that much, considering that I was dying. I _was_ surprised by how sure that knowledge was. I was going to drown. I was drowning._

"_Keep swimming!" Edward begged urgently in my head._

_**Where?**__ There was nothing but darkness. There was no place to swim to._

"_Stop that!" he ordered. "Don't you dare give up!"_

_The cold of the water was numbing my arms and legs. I didn't feel the buffeting so much as before. It was more of just a dizziness now, a helpless spinning in the water._

_But I listened to him. I forced my arms to continue reaching, my legs top kick harder, though every second I faced a new direction. It couldn't be doing any good. What was the point?_

"_Fight!" he yelled. "Damn it, Bella, keep fighting."_

_**Why?**_

_I didn't want to fight anymore. And it wasn't the light-headedness, or the cold, or the failure of my arms as the muscles gave out in exhaustion, that made me content to stay where I was. I was almost happy that it was over. This was an easier death that others I'd faced. Oddly peaceful._

_I thought briefly of the clichés, about how you were supposed ti see your life flash before your eyes. I was so much luckier. Who wanted to see a rerun, anyway?_

_I saw_ him_, and I had no will to fight. It was so clear, so much more defined than memory. My subconscious had stored Edward away in flawless detail, saving him for this final moment. I could see his perfect face as if he were really there; the exact shade of his icy skin, the shape of his lips, the line of his jaw, the gold glinting in his furious eyes. He was angry, naturally, that I was giving up. His teeth were clenched and his nostrils flared with rage._

"_No! Bella, no!"_

_My ears were flooded with the freezing water, but his voice was cleared than ever. I ignored his words and concentrated on the sound of his voice. Why would I fight when I was happy where I was? Even as my lungs burned for more air and my legs cramped in the icy cold, I was content. I'd forgotten what real happiness felt like._

_Happiness. It made the whole dying thing pretty bearable. _

_The current won at that moment, shoving me abruptly against something hard, a rock invisible in the gloom. It hit me solidly across the chest, slamming into me like an iron bar, and the breath whooshed out of my lungs, escaping in a thick cloud of silver bubbles. Water flooded down my throat, choking and burning. The iron bar seemed to be dragging me, pulling me away from Edward, deeper in the dark, to the ocean floor._

_**Goodbye, I love you,**__ was my last thought._

did you like it? sorry about the copying thing again. this is the last chapter like that, but like i said before...it is essention to the story!

thank you and please review.

isabellthelooser

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	4. Chapter 4: Saving the Gracious

Disclaimer: i do not own the books by Stephenie Meyer. Please don't sue!

this chapter is from Edward's POV again.

isabellthelooser

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Saving the Gracious

I drummed my fingers on the arm of my seat, closing my eyes and digging my nails into the upholstery. My teeth ground together as the seatbelt sign dinged to life, and I felt the plane start to descend. My grip loosened on the arm, and I shifted it into my lap, playing absently with my only possession: the receipt end of my plane ticket.

"Please remain seated for the remainder of this flight. We are coming in to land in approximately three minutes."

I shifted farther into my seat, glaring at the ceiling as the ground came into view out the window. Three minutes and I would be on the ground, from there it would take me five minutes to get to Charlie's house, and then I would see Bella.

Though I came all the way here to see Bella, the name still twisted the knife in my heart and made me wince. The man next to me asked me if I was afraid of flying. I growled at him, and he glanced away.

Then I felt the wheels of the plane hit the ground, and then the pilot hit the brakes. We piloted around until we got to our empty gate, and then I was out of my seat, weaving easily among the other passengers reaching for their stuff in the overhead compartments.

Once in the airport I dashed at barely human speed to the revolving doors, and dashed to the car rental place. To my luck, a black Volvo sat outside unattended. As soon as I was inside, I gestured at the car and threw the cashier a couple hundred-dollars.

In less than a minute I was racing down the freeway to Forks, zipping around other automobiles with less than a sideways glance. And it was then, as I swung a hard right through traffic, that I caught her scent on the wind. It was fresh, merely half an hour old, and so delicious that I was distracted enough to almost miss the turn to follow it. It took me a minute to realize that it wasn't headed toward Charlie's, but to Quilette.

But I didn't care, couldn't make myself care, for I was going to see my Bella again; my life, and nothing was going to stop me, not even a stupid boundary line. I would simply slip over to Jacob's house--where she would no doubt be--and then leave, no harm done.

I swung a hard left, and sped over the boundary. That's when the beach came into view, and my vampire senses kicked in. Her scent wasn't headed for Jacob's…it was headed up towards the cliffs. Then I saw her, a small, insignificant little dot on the distant cliff edge. But what really got me worried, was her posture. She was standing there, crouched with her arms stretched outward before her, her face raised to the sky. Then, as I watched in total horror, she sprung from the edge and fell, flailing and screaming, toward the black, frothing water below.

That's when the rain began.

"No!" I screamed incoherently. I was angry, so angry the driving wheel was protesting between my hands. Where was Jacob? Why wasn't he watching over her? Why was she jumping off a cliff, anyway? And then a more potent question hit me. What was I doing just sitting here?

And with that I threw myself from the car, leaving it spinning and still running to crash into a nearby tree; but I didn't care, for my Bella was hanging in midair, and I had to save her.

My feet hit the pebbles like boulders, crunching them to rubble. Then the water rose up around my ankles, then my waist. All I could think was: _Bella. Bella. My sweet, soft, breakable Bella. _

I heard her soft, exultant scream before I saw her head disappear beneath the waves. Two seconds later I threw myself headfirst into the current, kicking and reaching with all my strength. I propelled myself through the water, not breaking the surface until I had to see which direction to head. The water was black and freezing, even to my granite skin.

I looked, but her head did not appear above the surface.

My legs thrashed out behind me, my arms stroked at such a fast tempo that waves roared out from them. I threw myself back under the water's surface and streaked for my beloved.

_Please, Bella. _I screamed to her in my head, _Please. Fight. Don't give up. Swim. Swim to me._

My head broke the surface again, and I was twenty feet away from where she hit the water. I shoved my face back under and peered through the gloom for any trace of my beloved. I saw nothing.

Ten feet. I pushed myself faster, spiraling through the icy waters while a storm raged above my head. I searched and searched, but nothing.

But then, as I was about to return to the surface, I saw her hair. I looked closer and there she was, tossed and turned back and forth by the current, spreading her arms and fingers and kicking around in distress.

My heart exploded with joy. She was alive! And new strength pulsed through my arms, and I streaked for her, a mere three feet away. Then my arms encircled her, and I propelled myself backward; slower this time because of her added weight and my arm wrapped around her.

Our heads broke the surface momentarily, but I don't think she even got a breath before a wave crashed over our heads and we were forced back under.

"Keep swimming!" I urged her as our heads broke the surface again. Then I was thrown back under, her with me.

She turned her head back and forth, obviously fighting to see through the gloom, though I doubted her weak human eyes could see anything. Her body went limp in my arms.

Another wave knocked us sideward, but I fought the current and got us back on the right track. Her arms stopped moving, her legs stopped kicking, her head sank to her chest.

"Fight!" I screamed at her when I reached the surface again. She didn't react. "Damn it, Bella, fight!" But she wouldn't, her eyes were closed and her body was as icy cold as the water.

I shook her, hard. And for a second her head lifted to look at me, and her eyes grew big. Then it sank again, and the life drained from her.

"No! Bella, no!"

I swam extra strong, extra quick. And then the shore came into sight, just ten feet away.

_Come on, Bella. _I prayed, _Wake up for me, babe. Look at me._

But she wouldn't, and just as my feet struck the pebbles again, her mouth opened, and water gushed down her throat.

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how was it? good? horrible? spectacular? please review!

thank you, as always.

isabellthelooser


	5. Chapter 5: Delusions

Disclaimer: i do not own Stephenie Meyer's books. please don't sue!

isabellthelooser (this is from Bella's POV)

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Delusions

I felt like I'd been sleeping for a very long time--that I hadn't moved in a very long time, too. For a moment I laid there, trying to remember why I felt cold and empty; why my throat burned like acid, and my body felt like a lump of lead. Then it all came back to me.

Me jumping off a cliff, falling into the water, loosing control and being swept under by the current. Hearing Edward's voice in my head, _seeing_ him. Then slipping under into the dream world I awoke from. Did that mean I was dead? Was I in heaven, or hell? These questions worried me, for if I was in hell, then why was I cold. And if I were dead, then was I dreaming? But then a new question came to me that I did not expect. Did it really matter, when all I'd lived for was gone, too?

No. It didn't matter in the slightest, but…then again, maybe it did. Because maybe from heaven I could see him, watch him, take care of him like he had for so long. Just the thought of seeing him just once more gave me the strength I needed to blink open my eyes and see the world.

What I saw didn't make sense. The sky was black, with no stars. Where were the stars? Surely from heaven you can see the stars!? Maybe I was in hell then.

I turned my head slightly and looked again. Weren't hell's walls supposed to be made of lava? Then why were there wood walls in my hell? Maybe I wasn't in hell, after all!

I sighed and closed my eyes again. I searched for some strength in my body; some energy that had been stored. With a surprisingly great deal of effort, I moved my hand.

Immediately something cool touched my face. It was smooth and had a calming scent to it. Like only one other thing I'd ever smelled. But he wasn't here. No. He was most definitely in heaven, if he was anywhere.

I'd just finished convincing myself that I was in hell, without him. When a velvety voice asked from right next to me.

"Are you awake?"

My eyes flew open. There was no use trying to deny that voice. And there he was, my angel. As beautiful and perfect as I'd ever imagined him. His bronze hair was tossled and sticking up in different directions, and his clothes looked slightly disheveled; yet he still looked like a god. I followed the line of his jaw with my eyes, memorizing every detail of his cheek, his nose, his lips…and then, his eyes.

They were dark pools of liquid onyx. Watching me as I memorized his face, something hidden under the depths of his perfect eyes. Was it pain? Maybe fear…but why was my angel afraid?

A smiled lit up his face then, and I felt his finger stroke my forehead again. "Is the inventory complete now, love?"

My heart did flip-flops. He called me love! I felt my face twisting into a confused mask. Why was he calling me that?

My angel read my face for a minute, then spoke in his heart-breaking voice. "Why are you making that face?"

"Usually my delusions don't call me 'love'." my own voice scared me. It was crackly and choked sounding.

My angel's eyes tightened slightly at my words. "I'm not a delusion, Bella. Is it that hard to believe I'm here?"

"Yes," I whispered, "you _are_ a delusion, a horrible joke my mind is playing on me. And no, you are not here with me."

He flinched at my words and stroked his finger down my cheek. "Honey, I _am_ here with you. And you aren't dreaming; you aren't that imaginative." The corner of his mouth turned up into a smirk.

I tried to sit up, to argue with my delusion properly; to prolong the moment. But my legs and arms were still lead. Without speaking, my angel lifted me into a half-sitting position. I was sitting on a bed: his bed.

I shook my head. No. this wasn't right! I was hell! Not heaven! I belonged in hell!

He sat up beside me and grabbed my fade between his hands to stop my shaking. "Honey, what's wrong?"

I felt tears welling up in my eyes, but I fought them back. "I'm not dreaming. I'm having a horrible, horrible delusion! I'm going insane! I died, and now I'm in hell!" I glanced at him, "You. What are you doing here? You don't belong in hell! You need to go to heaven!"

Suddenly I was in his arms, cradled against his chest, sobbing. "Shh…Bella." he cooed, "Shh. Everything's going to be alright. You're not in hell, and you're not dead! I'm here, and I love you."

I grabbed a fistful of his shirt and buried my face there, "Yes--I--Am!" I cried through the sobs. "You can't love me. I'm not good for me! Yes, Yes! That's what you said. You said you didn't love me!"

His hands were around my face in a second, his face two inches away. His nostrils flared in anger, his eyes wide in astonishment.

"Bella, I love you. I love you more than you know! I died when I left you, okay? I died!" he wiped at my tears with is thumb. "I thought that if I left, you'd move on, meet someone better for you. But you didn't, did you? You jumped off a cliff!"

I sniffled and ignored my delusion's attempt at a joke. "You're lying! I know you are! I always knew I wasn't good enough for you! How could you love me? It makes sense that you don't!"

"Bella, Bella!" he cried, shaking my head to get my attention. My eyes unbiddingly went to his face. His eyes went wide and serious. "I lied to you then. I had to make you believe, and you wouldn't let go any other way." he dropped his hands from my face and touched my nose. "I _have_ loved you. I _will_ love you, always. I never stopped loving you."

I let his words sink in. Could I believe those words? The words of my minds delusion? I desperately wanted to believe them, but I feared it would only tear me up later. I thought of the first time we kissed, after our day in the woods; the way he protected me from James as if my life depended on it; how he gazed at me at Prom last year.

Then I thought of his words when he left, how they stung in my chest; his eyes empty of all emotion, even love, as he spoke the poisonous things; how he wouldn't let me touch him, and how he ran from me in the woods.

No. He couldn't love me. And wouldn't love. My delusion was playing games with me again.

I shook my head, "No. You're lying, it doesn't make sense."

My angel's face dissolved into pain, his eyes closing and his face turning from me as if I caused him great agony. When he finally spoke, it was like the reason had gone from his voice. "Why can you believe the lie, but not the truth? I love you, Bella. I love you."

My voice caught in my throat as I fought to ignore his words, to stop my ridiculous mind from believing them. I couldn't speak, could breath. So I just shook my head.

I heard his teeth clench together in the darkness. And then his hands grabbed my shoulders, his face staring at me, anguished, his eyes full of unimaginable pain.

"Is there anything I can do to make you believe me?" his voice was begging, verging on hysteria. "Please. I'll do anything."

I thought about it for a moment, and remembered one thing my delusions never did, and never could do when they tried to trick me. I looked up at him, meeting his gaze, and used all my strength to project my voice loud enough.

"Kiss me."

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ee! sorry about the cliffy again! please review and tell me what you think!

thank you, as usual.

isabellthelooser


	6. Chapter 6: Binding

Disclaimer: i do not own Stephenie Meyers books. Please don't sue!

this is the last chapter. it is from Edward's POV.

isabellthelooser

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Binding

I stared at my angel for the longest time--a long time for me, anyways--and tried to read the unreadable emotions bubbling just under her irises. Was it pain? Sadness? Maybe longing? No, it must be pain. As I watched her, I felt a hole start to rip through my chest, where my heart used to beat, but now just waited.

"Edward?" she finally asked, overcome by my silence. Her hand reached up to touch my face, then slowly dropped down into her lap again. Her eyes averted from mine, and she stared stubbornly at her hands twisting and untwisting until the action finally drove me up the wall.

My hand slapped over hers, stopping the action abruptly. And to my greatest disappointment, she shrank away from me, shivering away from my icy touch. I could no longer sustain the mask of silent resolve on my face, for the action had never been made by Bella before, and it now ate away at my heart like a hammer-and-chisel chipping away at stone. My face no doubt showed all the pain that now echoed in my empty chest and burned just behind my eyes.

She bit her lip, "Does this mean that you _are_ a delusion? That I _am_ in hell, because you aren't real?"

I cringed and drew my knees to my chest. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Maybe I should've stayed at home and wallowed. _But then Bella would be dead right now,_ whispered my mind to me. My head twitched to the side involuntarily. How long could i stay silent? Would she wait forever? _No,_ the evil voice crowed, _if you don't do it now, it'll be too late._ Was it already too late?

I glanced at her. No, not yet. But if i didn't decide soon there would be no convincing her. I bit my lip and watched her from the corner of my eye. If only i could be certain she still loved me. _If it's taken her until now to even consider the possibility that you're real, then how long do you think it'll take for her to decide that?_ _You love her, _my mind whispered still. _And besides, **she** asked **you** to kiss her; not the other way around. _And then i made up my mind. So what if i was damned to a life of hell after this? At least i could have this last moment with my love.

And then, without another thought or objection from my mind, I toppled myself gracefully over the bed and kissed her softly on the lips.

At first she jerked away, still not a match for my iron grip...but enough to make me anxious. Then, as the shock died away, she lifted her hands to my face and ran her fingers through my unkept hair. My own hands moved to her face too, memorizing every aspect of her soft brown hair and silky cheeks. And her _scent_!! It was more mouthwatering and succulent then i had ever imagined. How had i ever managed to live through six months of not smelling that frangrace?

I sighed and i felt her smile against my lips; her hands sliding down the sides of my face to cup my jaw. That's when i started to feel her heart accelerate to lightning speeds and decided i needed to end it fast before she suffocated--like always. Trust Bella to forget to breath when she was kissing me!

Her lungs ballooned against my chest, begging for oxygen. I smiled and drew away slowly, keeping my eyes locked on hers as i crawled to the other side of the bed again.

She merely sighed and sagged into the pillows, breathing deeply and smiling to herself in that beautiful way she does.

"Ah," I sighed, watching her still. "Am I officially real now? Or do you need a pinch?"

She rolled her eyes, placing a hand over her chest and breathing deeply. "No thank you. I am now satisfied that I am _not_ in hell...because hell would never allow me to be so happy." she turned her head slightly to smile at me, "And yes, you are definitely real now. Ahh..." her eyes closed and her hand fell to the bed beside her. "I am also officially exhausted now, too."

I reached over and delicately took her warm hand. "Sleep then, my love," I bent my head to kiss her hand, "I'll be here when you wake up. Heck," I paused to draw in a oxygen-deprived unnecessary breath, "I'll be here as long as you want me."

A smile danced across her lips, lifting the bags under her eyes. "I may have to buy some heavy metal chains then." her eyes flickered open a crack to look at me, "You're talking about forever, you know."

I kissed her hand again and twined my fingers with hers. "I never said I would leave. I would just stand over there, instead of here." I pointed to the couch in the corner, then gestured at where I lay. "And also, you should know by now that you wouldn't need iron chains to bind me to you. Your hold is unbreakable. Solid."

A sleepy giggle passed over her lips, "I'm not sure my hold is as strong as chains though...i may need hangcuffs. I wonder if Charlie would lend me some..."

I grew her hand entwined with mine up for her to see. With my finger I lightly traced a circle around around wrists. "Bella, your hold is like a thinly cut gold chain. Yes, it is small and delicate. But so intricately designed and so breathtakingly beautiful, that no one--not even I, the blood-thirsty vampire--would try to break it."

Her head sagged farther back and her eyes slanted shut. I traced the same exact path around our ajoined hands, kissing it again when she began to doze off. "Sleep well, my love. Your hold in unbreakable, and I will always be yours. Sleep tight, my angel, I am bound to you for forever."

She sighed softly in her sleep, and I kissed her palm one more time before letting it rest on the bed, still twined with mine.

"Rest now, my Bella. For your hold is a thin gold chain. Small, but firm; it is unbreakable. And I will never break it again, for once mended it is as strong as the thickest iron chains; it is both delicate and beautiful...and binding."

* * *

alas this is the last chapter of my story...for you know where it leads from here (if you've read Eclispe and Breaking Dawn) so there would be no point in prolonging the story any further. i hope you enjoyed it and please review for the last time on this story, if you will.

my thanks to all,

isabellthelooser


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